From all-rookie campaign to bullpen demotion. From firing on all cylinders to pondering his next pitching opportunity. Manheim Central graduate Colton Book was lost.
Book was a staple of the Stony Brook starting rotation in 2022. A torn hamstring and a bout with mononucleosis shelved his 2023 season. He couldn’t find his place, his rhythm as a reliever in 2024.
Then came the transfer to Saint Joseph’s this spring. One could call it a second chance. A rebirth. The relationship where everything felt flush.
“I think I just learned how difficult it is to be consistent, all the work you have to put in to keep having the success that you want to have,” Book said. “It’s never going to be a straight path. There’s a lot of ups and downs to it.”
Book never found his direct flight. His one-way ticket. But his nesting with the Hawks piloted him to the dream destination.
The 2021 Barons alumnus was selected by the Chicago Cubs on Monday with the 271st overall pick in the ninth round of the 2025 Major League Baseball amateur draft. Book will fly to Arizona on Wednesday to meet with team officials at the Cubs’ training complex.
The hope is to ink a contract on Friday, with an estimated signing bonus of $201,800.
“It’s definitely an unreal feeling,” Book said. “I think it’s more just kind of looking back on all the things I’ve done over the past couple years to get to this point.”
Family ties
Book’s father, Jeff, forged trumpeted careers at Lampeter-Strasburg and Lock Haven. His younger brothers, Nolan and Chase, followed in his Barons footsteps.
Book was always around the diamond. But it wasn’t Jeff’s encouragement that kept him pining for more.
“He’d gone through 10U, 12U,” Jeff Book said. “He’d been playing travel baseball for 10(-plus years). So he always wanted to play. We’d always leave (the option) open every year to go play, and he was there. … All three of the boys would go, ‘We want to do it again.’ ”
Colton and Nolan crossed over for the 2021 season — when Central won the Lancaster-Lebanon League title and reached the PIAA Class 5A semifinals. Colton and Chase are separated by five years.
The age gap did little to hinder the friendly competition. Book has watched his siblings mold into productive players from afar, a reminder to never take a day or a rep off.
“My dad, he was always pushing us to be the best player, the best person that we could be,” Book said. “And then just having brothers that play baseball, we’re always competing. It brings out the best in you, so that just drives you even more.”
Baseball also stoked a unique fire. Book tried football for one year. He played basketball throughout high school but never felt the same pull.
It’s not that the other sports weren’t challenging. Baseball just presented something new, another hill to climb each time he toed the rubber or dug into the batter’s box.
“Pitching was always something that wasn’t easy for me,” Book said, “so the challenge of it really kept me coming back. I always wanted to try to find a way to get better at it, and just all the work and stuff that goes into it, it kind of just kept drawing me back.”
Book was a feared hitter in the Central lineup. He slashed a .328 average as a senior, drilling five doubles and four home runs to go along with 32 RBIs.
While pitching was a self-acclaimed struggle, many would argue the statement. Book struck out 92 across 58 1/3 innings in his last dance. The mountain of punchouts underlined a 9-1 record and a 1.80 ERA.
“He would just go about his business,” Central baseball coach Jason Thompson said. “He wouldn’t say much to players, coaches, so forth. He was very deceptive with his pitches. He works constantly at his craft.”
‘It’s never going to be perfect’
Book didn’t feel at peace. The bullpen, in his redshirt sophomore season at Stony Brook, didn’t feel like home. The ace felt like he had lost his edge, amassing a 10.52 ERA in 11 appearances.
Getting involved in yoga and new nutrition practices showed the silver lining. The light at the end of the tunnel came via the switch to Saint Joe’s.
“I just wanted to be somewhere where I felt like I could develop and get better,” Book said. “Somewhere where I had the chance and the opportunity to do what I felt I was capable of. And Saint Joe’s was perfect.”
The peace enveloped. The starting rotation was home. The edge reemerged in red, black and white uniforms.
Book turned in an Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year performance this spring and was tabbed an All-Region selection. The alarming ERA the season prior dipped to an astounding 3.53. He wielded double-digit strikeouts in five of his 14 starts, helping launch a 6-3 record with 122 whiffs across 86 2/3 innings.
“I think (the setback) definitely pushed me to work harder and get a lot better,” Book said. “It kind of showed me what I wanted and didn’t want for myself going forward.”
The hamstring injury and mono were painted as blessings in disguise.
“I learned how difficult baseball really is and that you’re never going to totally figure it out,” Book said. “You’re always working to get better because it’s never going to be perfect.”
‘Where I got the love for baseball’
Book’s baseball vigor was fostered under the family roof. But outside the house, a quick peak at the quaint town of Manheim, and another portion of the southpaw’s passage peels back.
Little League. Travel ball. Catch in the neighborhood with friends and teammates. These are the memories Book holds close.
“I’ll never forget that, and I’ll always take that part with me,” he said. “… This is where I got the love for baseball.”
The community, too, won’t forget the Book name.
With Monday’s selection, Book was the first Central product picked in the MLB draft in the 21st century. Tim Becker was drafted by the New York Yankees in the sixth round in 1986. Rob Mummau spent eight seasons — including five at the Triple-A level — in the Toronto Blue Jays organization from 1993 to 2000.
“I think it gives players from this area, including our school, the thought of, ‘If I work hard, it’s possible,’ ” Thompson said.
And it’s not limited to hard work.
Perseverance in the wake of reduction. Transforming uncertainty into familiarity. Reclaiming an identity.
It all contributed to Book’s second chance. To his rebirth. To the relationship where everything, once again, felt flush.
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